Letters from the Sea
by Jeditwins
Summary: Agnieszka receives a letter from Kasia to visit, but soon finds out things aren't as they seem. Can she fix things before Sarkan finds out the trouble she's put herself in?


Being married to the countries' most powerful wizard wasn't exactly the most predictable thing in the world. There were times where the days would stretch on to weeks and we'd spend hours lounging around, Sarkan in his reading chair, me, sprawled out on the lounge over a good book, or in the library in a not so civil debate about a spell where he'd retreat to his side of the tower, only to meet me later in the afternoon to prepare dinner. I quickly learned, despite what he lead me to believe, that to him a well-cooked meal was better than anything _vanastalem_ could produce, and by now I had a couple of tried and tested recipes under my belt. Sometimes after dinner, we'd go for a stroll around the wood. He had grown accustomed to it all and wasn't so wary. He'd simply roll his eyes instead whenever I'd reach for the fruit of a heart tree to eat or bring back to my cottage; our lives spread out between the two places.

However, with the good times came the bad. Sarkan would be called away for weeks at a time to the capital to solve some issue I tried not to think about too much. Sometimes I'd be able to assist which wasn't so bad as we'd try and make a trip out of it, but more often than not I wouldn't be much help, or I wasn't trusted enough to deal with such an issue. Sarkan would anger at that, _you're just as good as anyone else they're asking to assist, if not better"_ he'd retort, but I didn't mind. Whenever that was the case I'd stay in the tower for the duration, looking after the various spells and bits going on, only traveling to my cottage when it was desperately called for, returning to our bed in the tower at night. Time went a lot longer when he was gone.

On the other side of it, I would get called away to the woods, or some other place in the valley. That seemed to stress Sarkan out, no matter what he said to me to prove otherwise. Occasionally I'd get a letter from Kasia and the children and I'd go out to Gidna; with a jar of homemade raspberry jam from her mother in Dvernik if it was for pleasure, a bag full of various ingredients and spells that Sarkan helped me pack if it wasn't. I wish I knew what he got up to when that was the case if he worried as much as I did whenever he left. He said he was happy to look after my cottage during those instances, but I had convinced myself he spent no longer than an hour there whenever he absolutely must, before retreating back to his library.

I had recently received a letter from Kasia inviting me to visit, which all seemed well, except for the part where it was addressed to my cottage instead of the tower, and the last line being _ps, don't tell Sarkan. _I packed that afternoon, "Can you please look after the new saplings I planted? I should only be gone for a couple of days?" I asked distractedly as I hobbled around looking for anything I missed. A slight grin came across his face, "Of course, safe travels." It was only a couple of days to Gidna with an enchanted horse, but I spent the whole ride there wringing my hands until a mark formed.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Kasia smiled, pulling me in for a kiss, "How are things?"  
I couldn't hide my worry well and she read it off my face but didn't address it, "Come come, say hi to the Children, they've grown so much," she led me further back into the house. We spent the rest of the daylight by the ocean strolling up and down the seemingly endless beaches. Despite how many times I've visited I never tired of this view and the feeling of the sand between my toes. I still wasn't brave enough to wander further in than my ankles and should have been jealous of Stashek and Marisha's fearlessness to swim out, but I was quite content with letting the hem of my skirt soak up the saltwater, shrinking it ever so slightly. When the sun began to set we headed back, enjoying a dinner of fresh-caught fish, nothing like I have ever experienced from the Valley, and while the meal was light and the conversation was flowing I couldn't shake the thought that something was wrong, but Kasia remained the picture-perfect host, and wouldn't lead on to anything.

After dinner I retreated to the room Kasia had led me to earlier, it looked even bigger than the room I had at the palace, but with a lot of more furniture crammed in, and it's own washroom. While it was oozing luxury it felt much more homely, that, or perhaps I had grown accustomed to his life. Sarkan wasn't exactly poor, but he didn't bring out his fine things for everyday life. After I had washed Kasia knocked on my door and she came in for a chat. We spoke like no time has passed between us, like we were 14 again, laying in the grass with our handfuls of raspberries to snack on. "So what is it actually like living with Sarkan?" She quizzed, "Well," I spoke after some time, adjusting the pillow propping me up, "He's really quite sweet, we argue a lot but he always has my back during important matters, and he makes the best tea. Sometimes after a hard day, he'll quietly come in, and we'll just sit together, not saying a word until I fall asleep, then he'll carry me up to bed." Kasia smiled at this, "I'm really happy for you, truly, and to think we all thought that would have been me?". I laughed, "But what you've done is no small feat, and you didn't even need to be locked in a tower to sever roots!".

We both laughed together, and at last, she set up to leave for the night, but lingered at the door for a bit, "Agnieszka" she called back, her tone changing, "I'm afraid I've made a mistake."


End file.
